When We're Ready
by The Wheatmeister
Summary: Set during Mac's stint on the Guadalcanal


Title: When We're Ready  
  
Author: Stephanie Wheatley (whtmstr13@hotmail.com)  
  
Summary: Based on the previews for next week. Thanks to Becky for posting the approximate dialogue in the preview. Also, I wasn't paying attention to where that scene in the preview took place, but that's not the important part, so...deal with it. ;-) I may tweak it a little bit, but it should be pretty close. So, yeah, there may be some spoilers in here. You've been warned.  
  
Feedback: Please?  
  
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USS Guadalcanal  
  
"Hey, Mac, are you ready to go to lunch?" Harm asked, standing at the hatch of her cabin. It was his first day on board the Guadalcanal to assist with and investigation, and except for agreeing to lunch, she had barely spoken two words to him all day. He hoped to figure out what she was  
  
thinking.  
  
"Yeah, sure," she mumbled.  
  
"Gee, Mac, it's good to see you too," he retorted, tired of playing these games with her.  
  
"I'm sorry, Harm. I've just got a lot on my mind. Let's go."  
  
"After you," he said, following her out of her cabin toward the mess hall.  
  
They walked in a strained silence toward the Mess. Once they were seated, Harm said, "So what exactly made you volunteer to go to the Guadalcanal?"  
  
"I needed to get away."  
  
"From what?"  
  
"From the wedding, from all of the questions."  
  
"From me?" Harm asked.  
  
"Not exactly."  
  
"Then what exactly? What are you feeling?"  
  
"Right now, like I'm facing the inquisition. Why are you doing this?"  
  
"I need to talk to you...about us."  
  
"About us? There is no us. There's you and Renee," Mac scoffed.  
  
"Not really. There never really has been."  
  
"Then why in God's name are you still with her, Harm?"  
  
"Because she's fun. She..." he trailed off, unable to finish his thought.  
  
"She was safe," Mac finished for him. "There was never any chance of getting in too deep."  
  
"Not from my perspective, anyways."  
  
"But Renee thought otherwise," Mac stated.  
  
"Yeah. But this isn't about Renee, Mac. This is about you and me."  
  
"There is no you and me, Harm. There hasn't been for a long time. Not since..."  
  
"Not since Sydney," Harm whispered, looking her straight in the eye.  
  
"I gave you every opportunity, Harm. But you ran scared. Something about not being able to let go, remember?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Mac. I can't change that. But I can do something about right now."  
  
"So what do you propose we do about right now?"  
  
"I don't know," Harm said honestly. "But I do know what I want."  
  
"Oh, and what's that?" Mac asked, almost afraid of what the answer would be.  
  
"You."  
  
Mac's eyes bored into his and she said softly, "What are you willing to give up to have me?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Harm, in the past two years, you've hurt me more than you'll ever know. I had completely lost hope of you ever getting your head out of your six, and I nearly gave up all of dreams to marry a man I didn't love. I'm tired of being the only one getting hurt. So pardon me if I feel like I  
  
need some sort of assurance from you that you won't go running off when things get hard."  
  
"You think you're the only one who's gotten hurt in the past two years? Think again, Marine. Every time I saw you and Brumby, it hurt. Knowing I was coming back from the Henry to watch you marry him and not me hurt. The fact that I can't help but feel like I've lost my best friend hurts. Mac, I'm sorry for not being honest when I had the chance in Sydney. But I can't  
  
give you any assurances. No one can. All I can promise you is that I'll try."  
  
"We've really made a mess of things, haven't we?" Mac asked ruefully.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Harm, I can't make you any promises either, but given all that we've been through lately, maybe we need to...let's work on getting our friendship back first, then see where it goes from there."  
  
"I can do that," he replied, flashing her that patented flyboy grin that makes her heart melt.  
  
"Me too. And maybe...when we're ready..." Mac trailed off shyly, looking down at her plate.  
  
Discreetly reaching across the table to squeeze her hand, he said, "Yeah. When we're ready."  
  
Deciding to lighten the mood, Mac said, "Now that we've talked about all of that, can we eat? My mystery meat's getting cold."  
  
"You got it, jarhead," Harm replied, chuckling softly. 'Batman and Robin are back,' he thought. 


End file.
